THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

Currently I’m sitting in a Hampton Inn in Cartersville, GA, on my way to Auburndale, Fl. to house sit Pete’s sister’s house for a month.  They are headed to Europe for a 3 week tour and we’re dog sitting their 2 labs.

We had to drive two cars down cause I’m leaving for Indian Rocks Beach later in the month for my 60^th high school reunion which should be a lot of fun.  And then I need to head right home for OLLI classes that start a week earlier.    

So, its been a while since I drove down to Florida from our home in Goshen, Ohio.  I’ve made the trip many times over the past several years, but typically Pete does all the driving while I spend the days reading a book. 

This time, since I had to drive my car, I wasn’t really looking forward to the drive, but I buckled in and off we went.  All was well for a while, until we hit rain showers just south of Cincinnati.  It rained, not stormed, all the way to southern Kentucky.  That was a little stressful since the roads were packed.

But once the rain broke, I relaxed and started thinking about all the times I’ve made this drive.  I remember the first time we made the trip for our move to Florida in 1957.  I-75 wasn’t even completed until 1977. 

That means, when I moved back to Ohio in June 1968 that I didn’t make the drive all the way up I-75.  I don’t remember that.  I remember I drove my new 1968 VW Bug was packed with everything I owned…..clothes, books, a sewing machine, golf clubs, etc, etc. 

Driving today I started thinking about this history.  Kind of wished I kept journals recording all those trips.  Early on I drove home to Florida at least once a year, sometimes more often. 

Of course, once I moved to Alaska and then Guam, that was 3* years when I didn’t make the drive at all.  But in June 1976, when I returned to Cincinnati from Guam, the practice started up again. 

I actually love the drive.  I-75 makes the trip very easy and driving through Kentucky and Tennessee is really beautiful.  There is so much history there, I can get lost in thought as I drive along.

This trip will be the longest ever.  From here we travel down to Leesburg, Fl to spend a day with Molly, Pete’s sister, then from there to Auburndale to Jan and Tom’s.

This will be the first installment.  I’ll keep posting as the days fly by.

See ya later.

 

NEVER AGAIN

(warning….this is exceptionally long, make sure you are clear to sit for 20-25 minutes)

If you follow me on Facebook you know that recently I took a trip to Maine.  My long-time friend, Diane and her partner Betts live in Bar Harbor.  Diane comes home fairly often, but it had been a very long time since I had visited her in Bar Harbor…..so the time had come.

It took a while to find a cost affordable flight and I ended up on American Airlines, flying from Columbus Ohio thru Charlotte, NC on up to Bangor, ME.

Let me say, up front, the visit itself was fabulous.  Excellent weather, fun things to do and lots of good visiting.   

Some of you may remember that last July I flew to Seattle, WA for a friend’s wedding in Bellingham, WA.  That was also an excellent visit, the problem was the travel up there.  Maybe I shouldn’t travel in July.  Am I jinxed??

This story starts the week before I left to go to Maine.  I have recently purchased a 2022 Ford Escape.  This car comes with tons of extras I’ve never had before, one of which is a Ford App that communicates with you.  It monitors the status of different functions on your car, like for instance the tire pressure of your tires. This becomes very relevant during my week in Maine.

The week prior the app let me know that my left front tire had low pressure.  Pete aired it for me.  In a couple of days, it was low again, which prompted a call to the dealership for an appointment to get this fixed. 

My instructions were, the left front tire, please fix.  One hour 20 minutes later I was still there, a little peeved that it was taking so long.  Unfortunately for the staff, I could see my car from the waiting room.  All four tires were off the car!!!  What?????

This part of the story gets very long, so let me just say, I ended up with four new tires at no charge.  All should be well…..right???  Na!!!

Moving right along….on Tuesday, July 14 I drove to Columbus and spent the night at a Days Inn as my flight left rather early Wednesday.  Got to the airport, parked the car, arrived in the terminal…all was well.  Everything ran on time.  Arrived in Charlotte, all was well, everything ran on time. 

However, this time, the row behind me contained a Mom, Dad, infant and a very small toddler.  From the second we sat down until the second I stood up to leave the plane, the two children did not stop crying.  Not screaming crying, but non-stop crying.  At one point I was going to turn around and give the parents the evil eye.  When I turned, what I saw were two adults who looked like they wanted to throw their kids out the window.  I felt so sorry for them.  They were completely and totally exhausted and had no idea how to get their kids to settle down. 

So, I turned around and dealt with it.  Part of my problem is that I have very sensitive hearing.  Unlike 99% of people over 60 who wear hearing aids, I typically have to have ear plugs as my hearing is so sensitive and I am often in pain from all kinds of noises. 

So, I land in Bangor, Diane and Betts are there to pick me up and off we go for a fabulous week.

The tide began to turn however on Monday.  On Monday I got a notice from my Ford app that the pressure on my right front tire, which was parked at the John Glenn International Airport in Columbus, Ohio was down to 20psi.  That immediately sent me into a tail spin.  But there was nothing I could do about it at this point.  So, I just waited,

Tuesday, I’m set to fly out of Bangor at 2:05 pm, Diane has me to the airport at 12 Noon, per my request.  I go and have a pepperoni pizza, load on the plane, looks like we’re going to depart on time.  Plane pulls from the gate, gets to the tarmac, and stops.  Pilot comes on air and informs us that due to weather conditions in Charlotte, we have a 1 hour delay.  1 hour later he comes on air and tells us we have another 1 hour delay, however, they are going back to the gate and we can deplane if we like.

I tend to travel very light, so I got off the plane, stretched my legs relax a bit and then reboard.  Once again we get to the tarmac, plane stops, pilot comes on air and says we have another 1 hour delay.  An hour later we have another 45 minute delay and then finally, we take off.  Ride isn’t too bumpy but you can tell we are flying over some weather. 

By this time, I have definitely missed my connecting flight.  I get a message from American Airlines telling me I have been rebooked for a later flight to Columbus.  We land in Charlotte, pull off the runway, head toward the terminal, but do not make it there, oh no!!!!  We stop!!!  Pilot comes on air and says our gate is no longer available, they have to find us another gate.  1 FUCKING HOUR LATER, they find us a gate.  Then, we approach the gate, get almost there, and the plane stops.  Pilot comes on air and tells us the gate is blocked by baggage carts, we have to wait for it to be unblocked.  45 FUCKING MINUTES LATER….the gate is unblocked, we park and I am sure I have missed my connecting flight.  When I find my gate, it is 3 minutes until boarding.  Lord, am I ever relieved.

Plane loads, I have an entire row to myself, I stretch out and relax.  This should be the end of the story….right????  Well, not quite.  I still have to deal with that tire. 

Turns out, airports have a “Parking Services” department that helps travelers with oil changes, flat tires, etc.  So, before I left Diane’s I looked up the phone number for the Columbus Airport and have it stored on my phone.  Our arrival in Columbus was Midnight, I was very tired, very hungry and quite cranky.  I decided to stay overnight in Columbus, deal with the tire in the AM and drive home when I am fed and rested.  I thought there was a Holiday Inn connected to the airport, did a search on my phone and turns out the closest one is 1.4 miles away.  I call.

The agent tells me she has a room for $499.  Nope, wasn’t gonna pay that.  She finally widdles it down to $199, I will pay that, I ask for shuttle service.  They don’t have shuttle service; I have to drive there.  I yell at her (by this time I am totally frustrated with this whole evening) and tell her I’m gonna sleep in my car and hang up on her.

I get out to my car, yes the tire is definitely low.  I call Parking services, explain my situation.  The woman pauses, gives me a second number to call and tells me if they can’t help me to call her back.  I call the second number.  Turns out it is the police department.  I again explain my situation.  The cop asks me again, where I am located.  I say, John Glenn International Airport, Red Lot.  He pauses, says, “Mam, this is Columbia, South Carolina airport and I’m sorry, but we can’t help you.”  Don’t ask, I have no idea how I got that number, but I honestly was about to cry. 

So I looked up the correct number, explain my situation, they said, yes we can help you.  Will send someone right out.  Well, 45 minutes later someone showed up.  Keep in mind, by this time it is 1:30 AM and I am beyond exhausted and famished. 

Very nice man pulls out his little machine that is supposed to INFLATE tires.  Guess what.  He turns off the machine, says I’m good to go, leaves.  I get in my car, ready to find a hotel.  Message pops up that tells me my psi on that right front tire is now 18.  He didn’t inflate anything; he deflated my tire more than it already was. 

So, I may have done the wrong thing.  But I decided to go and find an open gas station and inflate my own damn tire.  The car drove ok, there was no messages telling me to stop immediately.  However, do you have any idea how many gas stations are open at 2 AM?

I drove 30 miles toward home before I found a 24/7 truck stop.  Pulled in, inflated the tire.  Got in the car to leave. Another message pops up and tells me my left front tire is low.  Get out of the car.  Inflate that tire, and drove home….still more than an hour away.  I was totally awake, but to make sure I turned on the air conditioner full blast.

Slid into bed at 3:27 AM.

Like the title says….NEVER AGAIN.   I either drive there or I don’t go.

LESSON LEARNED!!!

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks.  You may have read on Facebook how I was in a car accident on Tuesday, June 16.  In 78 years, it was my first ever.  Given that no one was hurt (only the cars), we were all lucky.  But I can assure you, I never want to go through this again!!!

Three weeks prior, I had purchased a new used car.  It was a 2024 Ford Escape with only 7000 miles on it.  I wasn’t sure at first when I made the purchase if I had made the right choice….I mean cars now days have so much electronics involved, and initially it was a very frustrating experience, like I mean, it took me 2 days to figure out how to turn on the radio!!!  I use cruise control as soon as I get in a car, and this 2024 had a very different system. 

A young man made a left hand turn on a green light (not a green arrow) and he could not see that I was coming through the intersection in the right lane.  His view was blocked by a very large truck.  I hit his car on the passenger side rear door.  Luckily his rear right air bag did deploy, you can see it in my dash camera footage. 

When we both pulled over, he and his wife opened the driver side rear door and out came a dog, a toddler and an infant.  No one was crying or bleeding, but the dog was a nervous wreck. 

Three different sets of police cruisers (Goshen Township, Milford police and Miami Township) showed up very quickly.  Two ambulances and 2 fire trucks showed up right behind them.  One of the ambulances did take the wife and the toddler in the ambulance: I’m betting the toddler was not secured in the back seat and they wanted to check him out.

Luckily the young man driving did admit to the police that the accident was his fault, and my footage from the dash cam supported that.  Unluckily the police report indicates that he did not have a valid driver’s license nor proof of car insurance.  So, as it turned out, the cost of the damage to my car was not covered by his insurance.  Damn!!!

His car had to be towed away.  My car was drivable.  The front of the car was badly crushed, could not open the hood, could not open the passenger side door.  My door cracked loudly every time you opened it, but other than that, the car ran fine.  I drove it home and called my insurance company.

First step in this process is you have to get your hands on the police report.  Their website says crash reports will appear online 2-3 days after the accident.  I check daily all week and by the following Tuesday I called and a very nice young lady said, “Oh, not all reports are posted.”  Grrrrr.  She nicely sent me a copy. 

So, a copy went to my insurance and then I contacted the body shop of the dealership where I purchased the car, drove it in, and left it with them.  My insurance provided a rental car.

The very next day I got a call from my insurance company telling me that they had to total my car.  What!!!  Turns out that once the body shop got the car, got under the hood and got the passenger side door open, there were more parts needed than they had estimated, and that cost drove the math over the threshold of fixable vs totaled!!!!  I was so angry!!!!

Couldn’t get to sleep that night I was so upset, so I sat up and created an excel spreadsheet on all the possible Ford Escapes in their inventory that I would look at.

Next day I was back at the dealership and they had picked out a car for me and had it waiting for me to look at.  I bought it, but am not as happy with it as I was with the 2024.  I now own a 2022 Ford Escape with 14000 miles. 

So, after all this, I have learned my lesson…..never again will I proceed through an intersection unless I can see the left turn lane…..lesson learned!!!!

BTW….Happy 4^th of July!!!!

A Little Bit of Hope

As most of you know, I’m a golfer.  Been playing since I was 14 years old.  Started because at that age Dad had a series of heart attacks.  When he got out of the hospital the doc told him to take up golf and walk.  Since there were 4 of us in the family, we all took it up together and became a fun family foursome.

I’ve never gotten good at the game.  But I love it.  Love being on the courses, love trying to hit a good shot, don’t get stressed when I play my usual game….just have fun.

Currently I am in two leagues.  Monday night at Hickory Woods and Wednesday night at Deer Track.  My partner at Deer Track is Leah.  She is an excellent golfer, has lots of wonderful patience, and much better eyesight at this stage of life than me.  Perfect partner for me. 

Last night as we made our round, she started talking about watching the pro ladies this weekend.  She made a comment about one of them hitting an albatross.  I immediately assumed the tournament was being played in California because that is one area in North America where I know albatrosses appear.  I was asking Leah about which course in California?  She was immediately confused, then said, “No, she hit an albatross.”  I said something about the bird….and then she smiled.  She explained that an albatross golf shot is hitting 3 under par…..also known as a double Eagle. 

First off, this means this lady golfer shot a 2 on a par 5 hole, which in my wildest dreams I cannot imagine ever happening.  For those not aware, an average par 5 course is 450 to 550 yards for standard tees, playing up to 710 yards (which converts to .4 mile) on championship courses.  That is a very long distance.  And to make the shot in 2 strokes …..well, it is rarely done. 

In my 64 years of playing golf, I have never heard of an Albatross (I have heard of a double eagle.)  So, I learned something last night at Deer Track.  Would love to see a video of this golfer and that shot.  It would give me hope!

END OF AN ERA

The end of an era came about yesterday.  The STARZ app aired the final episode of season 8 of Outlander.  Wow, what a ride!!!

Sometime in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s a friend told me about a book titled Outlander by Diane Gabaldon.  I don’t read much fiction, but this book sounded interesting so I picked it up.  And then, I couldn’t put it down. 

The book was first published in 1991 and it was followed up by 8 additional books in the series.  Most of them were excellent.  The only one I didn’t think was up to par was the third book, Voyager.   It just wasn’t as engaging as all the others.

If you got hooked as I did, it was a nightmare to wait for the next book in the series, they went like this….

 Dragonfly in Amber (1992)

Voyager (1993)

Drums of Autumn (1996)

The Fiery Cross (2001)

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005)

An Echo in the Bone (2009)

Written in My Own Heart's Blood (2014)^[17]

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (2021)^[18]

There is a 10^th book due out sometime this year, which wraps up the story.  Not sure how the TV series was able to close out the story when the 10^th book hasn’t been released yet….but Diane has been closely involved with the series so I’m sure that helped. 

If you don’t know the story line, Claire is a WWII nurse starting immediately after the end of the war.  By accident she time travels back to 18^th century Scotland and meets Jamie, a Highland warrior, and that’s where you just cannot put the book down.  It ends in North America during the Revolutionary War.  There is so much intrigue and complexity to the story, you have to read it to get it.

When the news came out that it was going to come out as a TV series the wait was agonizing.  Ronald D. Moore picked it up as the developer and I have to say, I have been impressed with every episode following the books as well as they have. 

The first episode of season 1 aired 8/9/2014 and again, waiting for each new season was just impossible.  My opinion is that they picked exactly the right actors to play Claire and Jamie….their chemistry was amazing.  

       

There has been some speculation that the series will continue.  But in my opinion, I hope not.  I think it ended just as it needed to end. 

I am waiting for that 10^th book, as soon as it hits the shelves, I will have a copy.  Sure hope I love it as much as I have all the others!!!!

AND NOW THE GOOD NEWS.....

 Wednesday, July 7, 2022 was a tough day.  Actually, the week had already been tough.  The Saturday before we had to put our beloved Sonny down.  In 2009 while out on a hike in Adams County I had passed by a beat-up, abandoned house when one of the hikers yelled, “Look at the puppies.”  There in a bush at the corner of the building were two faces looking out at us.  Two very young puppies were obviously living there. 

Someone in the group said they couldn’t believe someone would abandon them like that.  I said no, Mom was a stray and this is where she had them.  I was up near the front porch and saw prints of the puppies and then a print of a much larger dog. 

It took three attempts and on the third try I managed to capture the two.  Our vet guessed them to be about 7 weeks old, so perfect timing to remove them from their mom; a boy and girl we named Sonny and Cher.

      

Thirteen years later Sonny was in pretty bad shape from arthritis and he could no longer walk out into the yard to do his business.  So that was the end of our week.  Pete and I mourned Sonny and we knew it would be tough on Cher.

Things got a litter crazier on Wednesday of the following week.  Storms were brewing and according to the weather channel they were going to get bad….and they did, very quickly.  So quickly that our fire station less than 2.5 miles from the house couldn’t even alert the community to a tornado that was touching down. 

I didn’t know about the tornado, but I knew the signs so I drug Cher to the basement.  I called Pete and learned that he was driving through our village of Goshen just as the tornado passed through.  He got home okay, but a whole lot of damage was done.  It was a small tornado, F2, but those suckers still do some serious damage.  It was a direct hit on our fire station and several houses were severely damaged. 

As it turned out, Saturday of that week was just as bad as the prior Saturday.  Cher passed on her own.  Not really sure what happened, but it may have been grief, as she definitely was missing Sonny.

So, in 8 days we lost both our dogs and went through a very serious storm.

NOW THE GOOD NEWS…. this weekend, our rebuilt fire station was finally opened.  It took 4 years to get the funding, tear down the old and build the new. 

Friday there was a ribbon cutting ceremony and then on Saturday they held an Open House.  I wandered through, came home and asked Pete if he minded if I moved into the Fire Station.  It is very, very nice (especially the kitchen!).

 While the 43-year-old station had not been so badly damaged that it could have been repaired.  However, 43 years is a long-time in fire station history and the building was out of code.  So, they tore the whole thing down and started over…..once they finally got the funding.  That is a whole other story.

 The funny thing is while it is only 2.5 miles from our house, it is not our fire station!  We live in a different county so our fire station is 3 miles from our house.

Guess I can’t complain, seems we are pretty well protected!!

AN UPDATE

On April 10 I posted a blog about finding a profile on FaceBook of a friend from 69 years ago.  I mentioned that we would have lunch soon and I would share an update after the lunch. 

Well, we met for lunch this week, in Lebanon just a few blocks down from our old homes.  I arrived at the restaurant first and sat in my car in the parking lot cause I got there about 20 minutes early.  I was watching as folks went in, knowing I would recognize Marilyn from her profile photo.  Ann was also joining us but I would not recognize her. 

A few minutes before our meet time I went in, wandered around, didn’t see Marilyn so went back to the front and there stood a woman, about the right age, who was also waiting by the front door.  I asked if she was Ann and she smiled and said yes.  We hugged, started to visit and then were seated, waiting for Marilyn. 

We visited for about 10 minutes and then Ann wondered where Marilyn was, cause she “Is always on time.”  We both looked at our phones, and she was waiting for us on the porch of the restaurant.  Ann went and gathered her up and the visit began.  Before it got far, I stopped Marilyn and said, “I have to ask you a question!”  She paused and looked like she was scared to hear what I was going to ask.  I smiled back and said “I have a memory, that your birthday is May 10.  Do I remember that right?”  She started laughing, “How in the world do you remember that??!!”  It’s been 69 years and for some reason, as I was thinking about this lunch gathering, her birthday came to my mind.  Don’t ask, I have no idea. 

We had a lovely lunch.  All three of us talked sharing memories.  How long they lived in our neighborhood before they moved on, etc.  Their current lives.  It was a wonderful follow-up. 

Marilyn still lives in Lebanon, which is what Facebook noted, and is a widow, has adult children and grandchildren.  Ann lives in Clifton, is also a widow and takes OLLI classes like I do at Univ. of Cincinnati. 

I wish I had thought to have a photo taken of the three of us, but I was too wrapped up in the moment to think of it.  We didn’t make any follow-up plans, but I hope we do.  It would definitely be fun to stay in touch.